A GUIDE TO THE WILD FLOWERS 53 



Mass. to the Gulf and northward in the Mississippi valley 

 to 111. and Kan. 



151. Slender Ladies'-tresses. Ibidiiim gracilc. Stem nearly 

 or quite hairless, ^-2 ft. tall. Leaves basal, broadest towards 

 the tip, y2-2 in. long, withering early. Stalk of the flower- 

 cluster with several sheathing scales. Flower-cluster 1-3 in. 

 long, scarcely y^ in. thick, conspicuously twisted. Flowers 

 scarcely % in. long. September. Meadows, Nova Scotia to 

 Fla. and westward. Fig. 151. 



152. RATTLESNAKE PLANTAIN. PERAMIUM. 

 {EP I PACT IS.) 



Woodland, hairy orchids with several basal leaves and 

 fleshy fibrous roots. Leaves usually blotched with white. 

 Flowers in a terminal spike, white or greenish, not fringed, 

 the lip roundish or oval. Fruit a pod that often droops when 

 ripe. 

 Flower -cluster loose, usually i -sided. 



Leaves tapering gradually towards the base 



Squirrel-ear no. 153 



Leaves broad at the base and abruptly narrowed into the leaf- 

 stalk : Rattlesnake Plantain no. 154 



Flower cluster dense, not i -sided .... Rattlesnake Plantain no. 155 

 153- Squirrel-ear or Rattlesnake Plantain. Peramium 

 ophioides. Stalk of the flower-cluster 5-12 in. high, sticky- 

 hairy. Leaves oval, blotched with white, gradually tapering 

 toward the base, about i^ in. long. Flower-cluster i -sided, 

 not over 2 in. long, the flower about Y^ in. long. July. New- 

 foundland to S. Car. and westward, in rich woods. Fig. 153. 



154. Rattlesnake Plantain. Peramium tcsselatum. Sim- 

 ilar to the preceding but with larger leaves, broad at the base 

 and abruptly narrowed into the leafstalk. Flowers and spikes 

 larger. August. Usually in evergreen woods : Newfoundland 

 and Ont. to Pa. and Mich. 



155. Rattlesnake Plantain. Peramium puhescens. Stalk 

 of the flower-cluster 5-18 in. high, very sticky-hairy. Leaves 

 oval, broad at the base, and abruptly narrowed into the leaf- 



